Means for overcoming insomnia.



ALICE 0. DARLING, OF LEBANON, NEW HAMPSHIRE.

MEANS FOR OVERCOIVIING INSOMNIA.

specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 11, 1919.

Application filed December 12, 1916. Serial No. 136.533. Renewed January 24, 1919. SerialrNo. 272,968.

To all 107mm it may-Concern:

Be it known that I, ALICE O. DARLING, a citizen of the United States, residingat Lebanon, in the county of Grafton, in the State of New Hampshire, have invented a certain new andv` useful Means yfor Overcoming Insomnia, ofi which the following is a specification, reference beingrhad to the accompanying drawings.

The immediate object of this invention is to provide simple, inexpensive, and eeetive means for overcoming insomnia and inducing sleep, and my present improvement briefly described consists of a novel arrangement of beddin whereby an abnormal position of the bo y is compelled for a time, which tends to divert the attention and thoughts of the ywould-be sleeper from distracting subjects, and to concentra-te his or Y her thoughts upon the novel position of the body thus temporarily assumed. It is commonly understood by scientists that cert-ain forms of insomnia result from an over-active brain which causes the thinking processes to roam from subject to subject, thus inducing wakefulness, and it is equally well known that concentration of ones thoughts upon a single subject, as for example counting mentally, tends to break up the wandering thoughts, thus finally quieting the brain until the subject 'finally drops asleep.

The position which the subject assumes while practising this invention also results in relieving all pressure from that portion of the brain known as the medulla oblongata, in which case the subject must fall asleep in a short time.

The object of this invention is, mainly, to provide a condition, or position, of the subject, which is unusual to such a degree that the subjects mind dwells upon it, to the eX- clusion of all diverting thoughts, until sleep comes to the subject.

The novel arrangement of bedding, and position of the would-be sleeper, are illustrated in and by the annexed drawings in which Figure lis a side elevation of a bed and sleeper arranged in accord with my present improvement, and Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same; the sleeper being shown in dotted outline in both of said figures. j

VReferring to the drawing, the mattress is formed of a plurality of three sections designated as a, b, Z2', respectively, the section a constituting what may be termed the major portion, or in other words that adapted to receive the bodjv portion of the occupant thereof. The other two portions or sections of themattress I), b, are arranged at the head-end thereof and are hinged together, as at d, whereby the section b may be positioned or swung upwardly and caused to standedgewise upon the section b as seen in Fig. l, leaving a space c intermediate the sections a and b, the purpose of which will be presently apparent.

The hinge cl may be a tape, a portion of fabric or any other flexible means for hinging the head sections b and b together, and admitting the dropping and sliding of the section b into the opening or space C.

As here illustrated, the portion b is turned up, on edge, so that its upper edge is located somewhat above the main mattress portion, and so that a considerable space c is provided, for the time being, between the two sections ca and 6,' this bein the position to which the small section is a justed when the would be sleeper finds himself or herself unable to fall asleep. Having thus adjusted the mattress the sleeper turns his body so he is facing downward with his face immediately over the space c and with his forehead resting on the raised edge of the mattress section Z7 (see Fig. l) the'open space between the sections a and b permitting him to breathe freely, and the elevated support forhis head causing him a slight discomfort which keeps the -subjects mind fixed upon that one idea or fact, to the exclusion of all distracting thoughts, until thebrain becomes quieted and sleep comes to the subject.

The shorter mattress section b is, preferably, formed of two hinged portions which are so arranged that the upper portion (upon which the subjects forehead rests) may be folded down into the space c, thus' conforming the several mattress sections into one level structure. I find in practice that the subject is usually conscious of the fact that he is about to fall asleep, and will then raise Y vate the head and to provide an air spaceV beneath the head and between the head and major portions 'of the mattress.

2. A mattress comprising three section-s,A

one section being elongated and adapted to support the body, the second section being short and lying'substantialiy in the lane 15 of the body supporting section and eing space-d from the upper end thereof, and the third section being short and adjustabiy connected to the second section and adapted to Vbe tted in the space between the first and 20 second sections, the third 'section also being adapted to be adjusted upon the top of the second section in position to receive the forehead of a person iyin face down on the mattress and Support t e head in a raised 25 position over the Vspace between the first and second sections.

ALICE O. DARLING. 

